Jake's Wake [Paperback]

So I started and finished my first book of 2009, and it looks like this is going to be a good year. Jake's Wake is a fun filled horror fest of zombie-riffic magnitude.

Short Synopsis - Jake is a Jerk... see how close the words are? Jake is scum of the most terrible sort, womanizing, abusing, just plain evil nasty guy. But he's got charisma... and he decides to throw his rock band plans to the wayside and use this charisma to run a church, being a psychotic television evangelist and massing quite a few fervent followers. Then Jake's penchant for womanizing gets the best of him and he ends up dead... but not for long! Those who were closest to him, and thrilled to be finally out of his evil clutches will have an evening to remember when Jake comes home from his own wake... even nastier than before.

This book is hard to put down, it's so out there and yet so engrossing all at the same time. There is plenty of sex and gore in this book to keep those who worship the red stuff happy. As I said... Jake was not a nice guy before he died. We follow three of the women in his life and their new men as they find themselves trapped in Jake's old house with his living and not quite breathing corpse. And Jake has plans for them.

At first the characters are so aloof and filled with hatred that I wasn't sure there was going to be anyone for us to root for, but as the evening plays on several of them begin to shine and give us hope. There are even one or two that the reader will become attached to. We don't get much background on anyone other than Jake, Gray, and the three women, but it's the ones that we don't get the background on that we end up caring the most for.

There are very strong religious themes in this book that might irritate those who hate reading anything along those lines. The book never approaches "preachy" but it's hard not to get into religion when the main baddie was a fake evangelist. There is a lot of subtext here on people who are searching for hope being easily lead, and charismatic leaders who preach the right words being able to control them. The book never degenerates into Christian bashing, nor does it wave the Christian recruiter flag, it is more a commentary of the Jim and Tammy Fay Bakers in the world. But never fear... this book really doesn't rise much beyond a fun filled horror novel, no real thought required.

I have to admit that the ending was unexpected, not all of it, but a chunk of it was out there... strangely if you had told me that the book would end like that, I probably would have said "No, that's a terrible ending!" but as I said, I didn't expect it... and it worked for me. On the whole this is a very strong book with a lot of enjoyable parts and a satisfying ending

This book represents Skipp's best work since THE BRIDGE(1991).

Cody Goodfellow really blew me away with RADIANT DAWN(2000),and I am so glad to see Skipp and Goodfellow working together.

I would love to write about this book at length, but giving away the central thesis, in this case, gives away the finale. This is just one of those books that has to be read (to the end) to be FULLY appreciated.

If you love horror with a bite and a brain, you need to read this book. If you are reading this review and have not read the novel, consider yourself lucky...you still have the discovery of JAKE'S WAKE ahead of you.

I cannot wait to see what John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow bring us next. I am sure that it will also be something special.

John Skipp is one of the masters of splatterpunk, and anything written by him is usually gory fun. And Jake's Wake is no exception.

Jake's Wake is about Jake's wake (surprising, I know). Jake is a television evangelist who doesn't practice what he preaches. He exploits people's beliefs to make money and to gain minor fame. He lives for sex, drugs and violence. When he dies, most people close to him count it as a blessing. But at his wake, there's an unexpected guest: Jake himself, resurrected from the dead, ready to wreak some more havoc. But was he resurrected by God or the Devil?

The action doesn't really start until about 50 pages in, but once it begins it doesn't stop. The body count is high and those bodies endure a lot of torture. Characters are brought into the book just so they can be brutally slaughtered. There's a lot of gore, but what else would you expect from John Skipp?

But there's more to the plot than just gore. Skipp's novels often tackle some sort of issue. The Bridge was about the effect of pollution on the environment. The Scream tackled censorship, Christianity and abortion. Jake's Wake is also about Christianity and what people believe in.

The characters are flawed, almost to the point where you dislike them. Jake's ladies, the three main characters, are weak, weaker, weakest. But it makes them more realistic. But thankfully they grow as the story goes on and become stronger.

Although I enjoyed Jake's Wake, the book started off too slow for me. But it's worth getting through the back story to get to the action. And the ending is definitely worth your time.